I Got You
by Trilby97
Summary: Bella and Edward have their issues to deal with and none of them want anything new to complicate their lives further. But can two hearts, meant to be, find their way or will they be locked in the closet. Full summary inside. M for obvious reasons.
1. Prologue

_**Hello everyone! This is my first multi chapter AH fanfiction I'm posting.**_

_**Disclaimer: The usual, SM owns all recognizable characters, all I know is how to play with them.**_

_**Well as the title says, I got inspired by the song and most of my chapter titles if not all will be based on songs, so two in one, you'll get a default song list^^ plus if I feel some other song is worth the chapter, I'll surely post it.**_

_**Soooo excited to bring in another story and hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it^^**_

_**Summary:**_

_**Dear Diary, My parents are dead! How am I feeling? Numb and pretty confused. Now I have to move in with my Aunt Esme all the way to Chicago. Isabella Marie Swan.**_

_**Dear Diary, My girlfriend just cheated on me! How am I feeling? Pretty pissed off. The new girl staying down the hall is the LAST thing I need. Edward Anthony Masen Cullen.**_

_**Special thanks to PTB. I am sending this story there for beta'ing and have came across amazing betas. My first transit run Beta Lindsey, suggested I add a prologue, so here it is!**_

**oO0Oo**

_**PROLOGUE**_

_**There are some things in life you can't control…**_

"Charlie, LOOK OUT," Renee screamed as she saw the bright yellow light hit her eye in the most straining of ways. Charlie tried to spin the wheel of the car, but it was of no use. The lively atmosphere in the car suddenly turned intense as they both felt another car crashing into theirs. The next thing they knew, the car was upside down and there was blood all around. The airbags didn't help save them either. Knowing that the last moment on this Earth together was about to come, Charlie stretched his hand towards Renee and grabbed it. Both of their heads were filled with concerns for their one and only daughter.

_**But the ones you can, you realize it's just too late.**_

Elizabeth Masen saw her world falling apart right in front of her eyes since the day she had walked out of her dream house. She had everything, so why put it behind her? Why leave everything? Her eyes flicked to withering features reflected in the mirror and then to the syringe in her hand. She wondered whether anyone would come to check on her anytime soon. She knew this would be her last moment as the temptation was too much for her to resist. "I have always loved you, Edward," were her last words, as though she was asking for a second chance. A chance she could reunite with him in the afterlife. If she had one, and soon her bright green eyes lost their shine.

_**Whatever the situation, the song remains the same**__._

**oO0Oo**

_**Hope the prologue intrigues you, so please do drop in comments.**_

_**Do check out the story banner made by an amazing artist and my friend Eva, it'll be available on my profile page.**_

_**Thankeeee^^**_

_**-Trilby.**_


	2. Chapter 1 I'm Just a Kid

**Hello again:) **

**Disclaimer: SM owns all recognizable characters, I just know how to play around with them.**

**Sorry for the delay, my story was going in makeover mode, lol. **

**I changed chapter 1 and this is the beta'd version, must have figured. **

**My this chapter went into transit mode twice, so it's been ripped to pieces two times by amazing betas. In return, the story is definitely more readable, because with every suggestion, I was like, ahan! This sounds way better! Beta's behind this reaction are **phoenixjedi, Lindsey21412, BelleDean and 2Shaes. **Thank you all and by chance if you find any mistake, that would be me and my playing around. **

**Hope you enjoy^^**

**oO0Oo**

**Chapter 1-" I'm just a kid"**

_Dear Diary,_

_After months, I'm actually looking forward to something. You know this past month has been a drag for me; same old stuff at school. Being a junior is tough, it's like your whole life depends on how you perform, especially if I want that full ride in this competitive world. I know Renee and Charlie wouldn't be willing to pay a penny for it. __To them, it was a waste of money. __They still have their orthodox thinking, well Charlie has- all he wants me to do after school is get married and settle down. Renee, on the other hand, just doesn't want money to be spent on me so even though she's always hated the fact that she settled down early in life. She's still with Charlie on that one.__I guess it's some kind of "If I suffered so shall others" crap._

_Well anyway, my aunt Esme is coming to stay for two weeks; she's my mom's sister and the only relative I like. Whenever she comes, she likes to pamper me, which obviously pisses Mom off, but Esme just shrugs it off. She lives in Chicago, so it really means a lot to me that she travels all the way to Forks just for a visit. She has said on many occasions that she usually comes for me._

_Esme tells me that Renee made her aware of many issues, and that's why she had the courage to tell their parents that she wanted to attend college. I still don't know what those issues were; I never asked. She earned a full ride to Dartmouth. There she met Carlisle who was a pre-med student and well, the way she describes it, it's like a fairy tale. But I'm always happy for her, and it's because of her that I want to go to college. _

_I met Carlisle just once a few years back, but never her children- well, her adopted children. I shouldn't call them children because they are my age after all, and one is older than me. __They found out that Esme couldn't have children, so they turned to adoption. Whenever Esme visits, she always shows me pictures. The first child they adopted, Emmett, is a year older than me. __He's like a huge teddy bear, big built and all, but according to her, he wouldn't hurt a fly without reason. Soon after, they adopted their second child, Edward. Esme doesn't talk much about him, just that she got him from the charity organization she works for sometimes. Last was Alice. She's my age, and from Esme's stories, her mother dropped her off at the organization anonymously when she was barely a few months old. They never thought twice before adopting and Renee always says something like, "they just wanna throw away all that money." Well, according to me, they are doing good deeds taking care of three kids. _

_That's Esme more or less, and I'm happy she's making a trip here. Just one more week and then the fun starts. Esme's always fun. _

_Well, that's all for now. I'll keep writing more later._

_-Bella Marie Swan._

I got up from my bed and put my diary back in my drawer and locked it- not that anyone checked my room, but better safe than sorry. It was Saturday late afternoon, and I still had to do one last assignment for Monday, but before that I wanted to take a bath. Unfortunately we just have one bathroom, so I had to wait until Renee was done.

I always hated using the bathroom after her. She was so clumsy and untidy that the bathroom was always a mess. I swore her personality was that of a moon- sometimes it was full and sometimes barely a sliver. As I entered our small bathroom, I saw she still had her things scattered all over. She could have at least tossed her dirty clothes into the hamper! I even realized she had finished my shampoo. I had reminded her to get a new one for herself, but evidently she didn't, so she very conveniently used mine. And finished it! If I remembered correctly, there was enough stuff in that bottle for two washes, but she finished it. So all I had left were those small bottle shampoo bottles that Charlie often picks up from hotels. He always said we'd paid for them when paying the hotel room, so why leave them behind? I swear my hair smelled like the stray dog I often fed outside. In return, I used Renee's conditioner so my hair would be a little smoother and the smell would go away. It didn't help much, but still, something was better than nothing.

I never took too much time in the bathroom and after quickly towel drying my hair, I headed over to my room. The only computer in the house was in my room. It was a really old one and I was a little confused when I found Renee sitting at my desk and typing in apparently random things into google. When I told her that I needed the computer to finish some homework assignments, she just shooed me away, saying she was busy. I did catch the sites she was browsing—mostly travel and shopping sites.

I still remember that fight between Mom and Dad. Charlie was to fly to Paris for some meeting and hearing that, Renee couldn't help herself. She pleaded and even begged Charlie to take her, but it took her throwing a few things at him and calling him names. Did I tell you my mom had a childish personality?

The following day Charlie came home a little irritated and slammed two tickets on the table. To say Renee was happy would be an understatement. Apparently, Charlie's co-worker Billy Black was going too, and he was willingly taking his wife Sarah. Talk about male ego. Charlie obviously couldn't stand it thus Renee was going for the trip too.

My parents had never really cared much that I'd be alone in the house, and that time their trip clashed with Esme's visit, so they were more than happy to leave me with her. Hell, I was more than happy to spend two weeks alone with her.

Another thing about the trip, the meeting was only for a week and after that Billy and his wife would return, but Charlie got some extra days off and planned on staying there another week. Talk about show off. Well, that just gave me an extra week with Esme.

Knowing Renee would spend hours on the internet, probably even sending a few emails to her friends, I went downstairs and started preparing dinner. Charlie came home around six and went straight to his room. We hardly talked to each other, he was mostly at the station—possible to avoid family drama, he put in an extra shift on Saturdays. Sundays were usually his fishing days with Billy and Harry Clearwater. So that gave me just a few hours with him, but he usually kept to himself.

I was in the middle of cooking dinner when Charlie came in and walked straight into the living room, turning on the television. It was the same routine every day. Around seven, Renee came down and entered the kitchen.

"Red or black, which suits me better?" she asked. I didn't bother asking why but replied, "Depends. Red can look good but black will be more elegant on you," I replied with a smug smile on my face looking at her. I knew she wanted to know which dress she should wear for the big party in Paris. I never liked her red one- it was more sultry than elegant, but then again probably that was probably why she bought it. I still picked the black one.

"Very funny, but yeah I'll go with the black one. Dinner ready? You better eat when we're gone, I don't want you looking thinner than usual."

"Yeah, yeah, and call dad. I'll bring out the dishes. Can you set the table, please?"

It was a routine. If I cooked, she was responsible for setting the table and after dinner we both would wash the dishes. No matter how she was, she was still my friend and we could talk about anything. We had a love-hate relationship.

Dinner was a silent affair, as usual, and when we were finished, Charlie went back to watching TV and Renee joined me in the kitchen.

"Why don't you go out? It's Saturday night and I heard your classmates are going to Port Angeles."

"C'mon Mom, not that again. I don't like going there. I told you I attended one party at Jess's place and it sucked. Plus, I'd rather be here anyway."

"Whatever floats your boat. I just think you should go out more often. You're just a kid. This is the age to have fun. By the way, you want something from Paris?"

"Whatever you wanna get me, and I'm just a kid, I have my whole life to enjoy."

"Well, you mind helping me pack after this? You know how finicky those people are about weight."

"Of course I will. You really need to buy some shampoo before you go."

"Oh yea, I forgot so I had to use yours. It was good. I think I'll use that from now on."

"Sure. Umm…Mom, you do know you'll have to let me go if I go to college, right?" It was one of those sore topics mom rarely chose to discuss. They thought I wouldn't be able to get a scholarship, therefore not talking much about it would mean less pain for me.

"I know sweetie, but can we not talk about it?"

With a nod, the topic was over. After cleaning up the kitchen, we went to her room and picked out the essentials she needed to pack. She said we would continue tomorrow so I went back to my room.

I switched on the computer which took ages to start up, and then I went on to complete the assignment. It took me awhile, but I had to finish it; I never liked leaving such things for the last moment. It was past one o'clock when I went to bed but somehow I just couldn't sleep. I took out my iPod from my book bag and shoved the earplugs in. The first song that came out was by Simple Plan, one of my favorite bands. For some reason, their songs were easy to relate to. The song playing was 'I'm just a kid' and, like I said, it was easy to relate to. Life was never fair and nobody wanted to be alone in this world.

Eventually I did fall asleep, I didn't remember when. The next day I saw myself wrapped in the wire which was very typical of me. I saw the time and it was a little after nine. I got up and headed for the bathroom and then downstairs. Dad had already gone fishing, so I saw mom in the kitchen making coffee. I was never a coffee fan, so I just poured some milk in a glass and drank it. I asked mom if she had had breakfast to which she replied no. I took out two eggs and some slices of bacon and prepared breakfast. Mom had her ladies get together every Sunday so that left me alone in the house till late evening. I really didn't mind. As it was, if Mom would be here we would just gape at each other's faces.

With Mom and Dad gone, I went to my room, collected my usual blanket, picked a random Jane Austen book and went outside. We had a lovely forest beside the house and it was always relaxing just staying there. I spread the blanket and lay down. I read till my stomach was making funny noises, and I realized it was way past three, so I went back inside. I usually kept the previous days leftovers so I wouldn't have to bother cooking something just for myself. I quickly heated up the food and took the plate upstairs. After finishing it, I went back to the kitchen washed my dish and finally went to take a bath.

It was around four when my head became dizzy and I felt really sleepy. I didn't get a full night's sleep the day before, so I set the alarm for six. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Before I knew it, my mom was waking me up for dinner. I had slept through my alarm which was rare and my clock showed 7:30PM.

Mom told me she'd come home early and found me sleeping so she didn't want to disturb me. Usually weekends are my days for cooking, but today mom had done it. Not on that other days I didn't help her, because I did.

The next day was a school day, and I woke up nice and early. I quickly shoved my books and assignments into my bag. I had plenty of time to eat breakfast, and then I went to Mom's room to tell her I was leaving. It was again a routine. That way at least she woke up early and got to know the house was empty, because every day Charlie would push off for work before I could even come down. So mom made sure I said bye to her every time I left for school.

I left the house and opened the door of my truck. Yes, I owned a red Chevy truck, which I loved even though it was old and rusted. Charlie had taken me car shopping on my sixteenth birthday I could buy one and somehow, from so much variety, I picked that one. Well, we both were happy as it didn't cost much.

School was always the same; I saw Angela and Jessica waiting for me at the parking lot. Angela was my best friend since we were in diapers. Jessica just tagged along, she'll tag along with anyone. According to Angela she had a crush on Mike Newton; he was my partner in biology and to say he was dumb will be another understatement. Mike was creeping the hell out of me, but again Angela thought he had a crush on me, and if Jessica roamed with me, then Mike would notice her. Talk about pressures! What happened to the fact that I'm just a kid?

**oO0Oo**

For the first time, the week passed by in a blur and soon it was Saturday again. School was officially out for winter break. I was in my room when mom entered telling me they were leaving to get Esme. I was so excited; her flight was to land at Seattle airport. It took around two hours to drive there from Forks. These four and half hours of waiting at home, felt longer than the whole week. Finally, I heard the doorbell ring and I knew Esme was finally here. Over the years, she had been ringing the bell every single time before entering because I once told her I liked ushering her in. Since then, even though Mom and Dad were with her, she would stop them, ring the bell, wait for me to open it and then enter. Another tradition I liked to follow.

I was so glad to see her on the other side of the door that we didn't bother saying anything and just hugged each other. Even though she had a slender figure, similar to mine, but that woman had strength, probably by keeping her two sons under control.

"Esme, I'm so happy to see you," I said when we parted.

"Same here. Now where am I staying?"

That was another one of her ticks; she always stayed in my room yet she always asked where she would be staying. So I took her to my room and Dad followed with her suitcase.

Esme stayed upstairs with me and we talked about absolutely random things. She asked me how my school was going and what colleges I thought about applying to. I told her I did indeed make a list as to where I would be applying, but then obviously I didn't want to be overconfident and would wait until I actually got in one. Plus, I thought Esme could help me decide a few. She told me Emmett was preparing for college. He'd already applied in a few. He wanted to go into business financing and Carlisle was supporting his choice. Esme also told me Edward would be going into the medical field, something about how hospitals had always fascinated him and how he wanted to save lives. Alice would be applying for fashion design school. I was still a little confused between English and Art History. Hopefully when the time came my mind would be set.

Then she showed me all the recent pictures of Halloween and before. It had been awhile since her last visit, so we went through a lot of them.

That night was my night to cook dinner so Esme came down with me to the kitchen. She really didn't have to help me, but Esme was another great cook. After a while, Mom also entered the kitchen and she caught up with Esme, chatting about their lives. Then by seven, the dinner was ready and unlike other days, the dinner was quite lively. Charlie, who hardly spoke much, was asking about life back home, how Carlisle was doing and how the kids were.

Mom and I followed the routine of cleaning up the dishes, just this time the atmosphere was livelier as Esme had joined us. My parents were leaving tomorrow, so Mom was telling us their plans. They'd leave around noon so that gave Esme and me plenty of time to go to Port Angeles-her plan not mine.

That night, we didn't sleep till God knows what time. We just sat on the bed and talked.

"So, did you make any boyfriend here?" she asked intruigingly.

I responded with a snort. Esme gave her usual "what?" stare and I laughed. Guess she was a little too hopeful in that department.

Esme took out a group photo and kept it in front of us. "This is Rosalie," she said pointing towards a tall beautiful girl with blonde hair, "She's Emmett's girlfriend. "

"She's beautiful. Guys must be flocking around her."

"They are scared of Emmett. You know he is." I did. Even though he was harmless, but he also knew how to take advantage of his size. He wouldn't do anything without reason of course.

She then told me Alice had a boyfriend named Jasper and when I saw him, the first thing I noticed was Alice and Jasper's height difference. He was tall, not as tall as Emmett and Edward, but still tall and he was towering over Alice. Even Edward had a girlfriend named Tanya. She was also a blonde like Rosalie, and they all seemed so happy in a group photo Esme showed me.

We did eventually fall asleep and, starting tomorrow, it would be just Esme and me for two weeks. Two very blessed weeks.

**oO0Oo**

_**Well so that's chapter 1, again. Do drop in a review please, please, I love hearing what you all think. It really gives me the encouragement to keep writing^^.**_

_**Chapter 2 ready to be sent over to the betas, so do put in the story on story alert.**_

_**I like to think I'm a friendly person, so you can follow my boring life on Twitter under the name Trilby97. Apart from that, don't hesitate to PM me. I'm even a crazy reader and even though I am reading so many fics at a time, I still love some recs.**_

_**Thank you^^**_

_**-Trilby.**_


	3. Chapter 2 How Could This Happen To Me?

_**Hello again! And it's a REAL update this time, LOL!**_

_**Disclaimer: SM owns all recognizable characters even though I so wished they belonged to be. **_

_**The chapter has been beta'd by the Project Team Beta. Thank you **_**phoenixjedi, torisurfergirl**_**and **_**mcc101180. You ladies sure made by chapter more readable^^**

**I'm sending the next chapter for beta as soon as I update this, so it'll be back in a week. Fingers crossed that I might update this story on a weekly bases, unless I need to resubmit my story to the beta.**

**Time to cut my crap and on with the story, **

**Soundtrack, Simple Plan- How Could This Happen To Me/Untitled.**

**Hope you all enjoy it^^**

_**Chapter 2- How could this happen to me?**_

I woke up around eleven the next day, just an hour before my parents were leaving. Within ten minutes, I was downstairs where I saw Charlie was loading the car, and Renee was giving random instructions to Esme, and she listened as if it was the first time she'd heard them.

Sooner than I had thought, I stood beside Esme waving goodbye to my parents for two weeks. Then we went inside and Esme told me that we could go to Port Angeles; it was the biggest town near Forks, just an hour drive away.

I made a grilled cheese sandwich for myself, we were having lunch out and I had woken up late. If I eat too much, I wouldn't have the appetite. After breakfast, we cleaned our plates and headed back upstairs. Esme suggested I take a bath first so that she could unpack. Sometimes I wished we had another bathroom. When I entered the bathroom, I saw a new bottle of shampoo was on the rack; Renee must have stocked it up again. I quickly took a bath, so as not to waste any more time and get on with Esme's "plan."

I wore my usual set of clothes- dark colored skinny jeans and a blue t-shirt. One could never say much about the weather here; it could be sticky and chilly at the same time. When I entered my room, I saw Esme had stacked up her clothes in my cupboard. Like usual, I had emptied the top shelf for her in advance.

"I'm done, Esme, you can use the bathroom," I announced, and she picked up her clothes and went. in the time, when Esme was in there, I blow-dried my hair. She preferred that I kept them down, so I kept the rubber-band in my pocket in case I wanted to tie it up later.

Sooner than we thought, we were ready to head out for Port Angeles. During the drive, Esme asked me twenty questions about school, how the guys were, how my friends were, if I wanted to meet them during the break, when was the prom coming up, who took me last time and what about this year. You know the drill. She was disappointed by the fact that I hadn't attended prom last year because to be honest, I can't dance.

"C'mon, Bella," Esme started, "You should go out for parties at least."

"Okay, okay, I did attend the after-prom party at Jessica's place. You remember I told you about her. Trust me, it was weird and boring. I told you she has a crush on this guy named Mike, so the whole time, he was just sticking to me whereas I'm not even remotely interested in him. I was talking to Angela and he kept on throwing comments in our conversation, and don't get me started on Jessica. She kept on annoying me about talking to Mike about her. So overall, that's a 'no thank you' from my side."

I heard Esme laughing, no scratch that, she was in hysterics. Okay fine, it was kind of funny, but laughing that hard? Finally I joined her with my own set of laughter.

Thankfully the questions ended when we reached Port Angeles. We weren't really that hungry, so we skipped the restaurant, and I parked somewhere in the middle, so it would be convenient to roam around. Esme pulled me into the first store she found and perfect- more clothes this year. I hated shopping, but somehow I enjoyed it with her; she was so patient. She knew what I liked and would hardly force me into anything. Okay I said hardly, but if she liked something, you better go with her on it.

Soon I was shoved into the dressing room, and Esme kept on throwing clothes at me. Guess over a period of time, she had gotten to know my size and what suited me, she threw in some jeans: black, then a few light shaded ones, as well as a few tops and some cotton ones too, for "sunny days," her words not mine.

I was surprised to see the shop was more or less empty even though the winter break was on.

Esme liked that I came out and modeled whatever she gave me, and she would say yes to almost everything. I didn't like the fact that she paid for my clothes, but she just shrugged it off. With two bags in hand, we exited and entered into another store.

She headed straight for the skirts, and I said a horrified "No" to her. I did have a skirt, but I hardly felt like wearing it. Esme kept on suggesting a few simple ones, but I kept shaking my head until she picked up a khaki colored skirt. I liked that color, so when I didn't say anything, Esme smiled and threw it toward me. That was my cue to go and try it on. I didn't know why I bothered, it would fit me, but I did anyways. It came to a little above my knee, and it seemed pretty comfortable. In the past, I used to buy what I thought I would wear, but somehow I did like this. Esme loved it, of course!

I dragged her toward the shoe corner which was on the other side of the store. My old sneakers had worn out so I tried a pair of Nikes. Esme kept eying the others, which would be heels and which were to be a complete no, not for me.

Sometimes I had thought she just wanted me to dress up like a "girl." Well, it was true because once or twice she did mention it.

The shop-a-thon continued until my stomach started making weird noises indicating it needed to be filled. It was around 3:30PM when we dumped our bags in the truck. Esme bought a couple of things for herself too- some leggings in different colors and a couple of shirts.

For lunch we ended up in the same restaurant we usually go to- La Bella Italia. Esme only chose it the first time saying it had my name in it, so they better give us some discount. Of course that was just a joke, but surprisingly we did stick to it.

Esme told me Alice had designed a few clothes. I always knew she was good at drawing them, but to actually make them, was a totally different thing. She told me she usually took her own size into consideration, so unfortunately neither Rosalie nor Tanya could wear it. She just keeps them in her cupboard hoping one of them would shrink.

The two weeks I was with Esme flew by in a flash. Throughout that time, she usually took me to Port Angeles, even though we didn't really shop; we just hung around and tried all the restaurants. She even took me to the spa one day. To be honest, I had no idea Port Angeles even had one, but then again, it had practically everything. Esme called it the "Pampering Day," and yes, she did use her two fingers to quote it.

One day Angela had called. She was bored, couldn't blame her. I was one of her closest friends and she was mine. Esme overheard the conversation and asked me to invite her over. Like usual, we ended up in Port Angeles, and later we all cooked dinner. Thankfully her mother had allowed her to sleep at my place. My room didn't have space for three; I wanted us to sleep together, so Esme suggested we bring the mattresses into the drawing room. We hardly slept that night. Esme told us some scary stories from the movies she had watched. I didn't mind watching horror shows or movies, but the aftermath was horrible. I got bad nightmares because on them. Because we slept late, I was surprised to know we woke up around noon. I was always a morning person and hardly slept for that long. We thought it would be better to just stay home and relax, so after cooking lunch, we picked a movie and watched it. Overall it was fun day. Angela left at seven in the evening. Esme suggested we just order some pizza and carry on watching some more movies. Even though she had seen mostly all of them, she still liked to watch them again. I was glad for that.

The following day, my parents were to return. I was having a great time with Esme, but I did miss them too. I was excited to hear all the stories Mom would have about the place. By late evening, I heard the noises of Dad's cruiser and knew they had arrived. Esme and I were waiting in the dining room for them. It was Esme's last day here, and she wanted to spend some time with her sister too.

Mom entered first, all the excitement glowing on her face. She was happy to see us there and didn't waste much time in telling how her trip was. In between her narration, she would ask Esme how she'd been and if everything in the house was okay. Dad entered a few minutes later carrying all off the bags. I was surprised the luggage hadn't increased.

Compared to Mom, Dad looked very exhausted. Couldn't blame him, the meetings must have taken his time and then by Mom's stories, Dad was dragged all over the city for sight-seeing.

No one bothered about the food. Dad just ordered some Chinese, and we sat in the dining area for hours listening about the trip. Dad was sleepy, so he took off in the middle, but Mom, Esme and I were awake till almost three. When Mom came out of her story telling, she realized they had to drop Esme off at the airport in the morning.

I didn't really notice how exhausted I was until I reached my bed. It didn't take long to fall asleep. I loved my sleep.

I woke up the next day and realized Esme wasn't in bed. My first reaction was to check the time, and thankfully it wasn't too late. I quickly went to the bathroom to freshen up. I imagined that no one wanted to wake me up because of how late it had been the previous night. I made my way downstairs and saw my parents and Esme sitting in our small dining room having breakfast.

Looking at her, I couldn't believe how two weeks had just flown by and how I'd again have to wait almost a year for her next visit.  
>Esme was due to leave in half an hour, and like always, I got a little too emotional at the thought. Even though she promised to call me every day, I told her not to. Her life was hectic as it was, and I didn't want to put another load on her shoulders.<br>Saying our last few goodbyes while my father loaded the car, Esme handed me one of the pictures she had shown me a week before. It was their annual family photo. With one last hug and a kiss on the cheek, she finally left and I watched as the car disappeared down the road.

I went back inside and straight back to my room. I had almost five hours to kill before Renee and Charlie would come back, so I decided to call up Angela after realizing that I hadn't talked with her since the day that she had come over. Later I went for a nice long bath, because spending days with Esme had aftereffects, both mentally and physically.  
>I went to my wardrobe in search of something to wear, and even though it was filled with all the new clothes Esme had bought, I stuck with an old pair of jeans and a t-shirt.<p>

It was around twelve when I went downstairs to get some breakfast. There was no point waiting so long for them to come. I bet Charlie would have wanted to order something as Renee would have been tired from her trip. I didn't really eat anything elaborate, so I stuck with normal cereals, as per usual. Did I mention how I liked my daily routine? Probably several times.

I was just washing up my plate when the phone rang. I thought it would be my parents informing me that they had started from the airport or that Esme had checked in, but when I picked it up, it was Billy Black, my dad's co-worker.

"Hello, is this Isabella Swan? Billy Black here," he spoke up startling me.

"Yes, it is," I replied with a confused tone.

"Bella, I have some bad news for you. You see...Your parents...They were in an accident. I'm sorry." The last part he spoke so fast that had I not been paying such close attention I would have missed it. But I didn't, and I had no way of reacting to such an unexpected news.

"What? That can't be. They're on their way back from Seattle." I was hysterical and it was evident in my tone.

"Look, Bella, the news just came in. They were in Seattle when this happened. We have contacted your aunt, and she's on her way right now..."

"No, let her catch the plane. She'll miss it otherwise."

"She wanted to come and she's on her way." Obviously Esme would have wanted to come.  
>I just dropped the phone and gaped at the floor for god knows how long. <em>This can't be. They can't just go, leave me like this. I wanted to live free, all my life, but I always wanted to come back home. HOME. Now what?<em>

I didn't even realize that I had sat down on the floor and leaned against the wall. I heard a faint knock on the door and saw two people rush in. I recognized them, Sarah and Jacob Black. Billy must have contacted them of course. The events that followed felt like my life was in fast forward. I didn't react to anything until I heard the door open again and saw Esme rushing in coming towards me. I didn't open the door for her like always. Why was my life, my routine changing? She hugged me tightly, then I saw her opening her phone and heard, "Carlisle...I'm in Forks. I need you, can you please get here as soon as possible. Renee and Charlie are dead."

Esme's words just confirmed my fears, Billy had just told me they met with an accident, but deep down, I knew they were gone. My face showed that I knew they were gone.

Esme took me upstairs to my bedroom and stayed with me. The most surprising part was that I didn't cry. I was feeling numb, no tear, nothing. I didn't even realize how the day just went by.

The next day came another shock; a man came in saying he was my parents' lawyer. What surprised me was, my parents never had one, or probably I didn't know of any.

"Miss Swan, my condolences. My name is Mr. Jenks, Charlie was a dear friend of mine. I heard about their unfortunate death so I just had to come visit and speak out Charlie's last wishes. Your parents had a will prepared, not that they were expecting anything, but just as precaution. Your parents had a lot of savings, mostly for retirement, but he said if anything were to happen to them, the money would be transferred into your name and you can do whatever pleases you. Also, now that they are gone, the house belongs to you too."

That was my last string and it snapped. I knew neither of them wanted me to go to college, but here Mr. Jenks was saying my parents left me enough money to maintain a normal life. Was I going crazy? Was this a nightmare turned reality in a sadist manner? I did want to go to college, but not at this cost!

That evening when Carlisle landed he was immediately involved in organizing the funeral. Billy had done some of it, but with Carlisle's help they managed to get everything settled within three days.

I stood again in front of my closet thinking what to wear, I laughed bitterly at the thought that my parents just died and I was searching for a black outfit. Obviously, I didn't have anything formal, so as usual I pulled out the darkest clothes I had. Alice made Carlisle bring a black dress for Esme to wear. It was evident Esme was in no mood to dress up, but she kept saying she had to look good while saying her last goodbyes to her sister.

We reached the funeral well in advance, and I noticed they had dug up a pretty big grave. Esme wanted them to be buried together, even though my parents never showed the love, but people close to them knew they had always loved each other.

I was surprised to know practically the whole town was here, Charlie had affected a lot of lives as his job in the police force. It was a small town and word spread quickly. I didn't expect so many to actually show up.

Esme and I stood quietly throughout and didn't want to say anything. We were just praying. Carlisle stood up and spoke a few words from all our sides and then came beside us and held Esme's hand. As I saw my dad's friends lowering their coffins in the grave, I felt a small tear trickle down my cheek. I wiped in quickly. I didn't want to have my breakdown right now. Not here in between now unfamiliar people. They didn't know me as Bella; they knew me as Chief Swan's daughter.

During that time I also remembered a song I was listening to just the night before my world came crashing down. It was by my favorite band, Simple Plan, and the song was "How Could This Happen To Me?" Like I said, their songs are always easy to relate to, and at that moment, the whole video flashed in front of my eyes. The girl had met with an accident, a drunk driver banged his car into hers, and similar to what must have happened with my parents. Billy did tell me some boys in Seattle were drunk; however, no one died. What kind of justice does this world give? Those boys, their lives haven't changed, after their short term in prison, they'll be drinking and banging someone else's car. Even though I wasn't that girl in the car, I was the family who got affected, my life scattered in front of me. I wanted to scream my lungs out, but nothing came. Everything was inside of me, like my wills were having some sort of internal battle. How could this happen to me?

When the funeral ended, the tiredness took over me. Now there were just Esme, Carlisle, Billy and myself. Carlisle was talking with Billy while Esme had encircled me in her arms.

"Bella, if you want, you can come with us to Chicago." I was surprised at her suggestion, so I looked at her and her eyes said she wasn't faking it.

"It'll be inconvenient for you and Carlisle."

"No it won't. I'd love to have you there actually." Her voice was soft and soothing as she continued.

"What will you do here, Bella? You have a week's winter break remaining. You can decide. Till then we'll stay here."

I was trying to weigh the pros and cons, and actually everything was so clear, I didn't need a week. If I left, I could easily put the house up for rent.

If Esme was speaking honestly, then I was taking up her offer. All I did was nod and she understood it wasn't for the wait. It was the answer to her question.

~END~

_**SOOO? How was it? So excited to hear what you all think of it? Please do leave a comment, good or bad. Let me know if you love it or hate it. I need to know!**_

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	4. Chapter 4 My Wish

_**Hello everyone, here comes chapter 3**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, oh how much I wish, it's all SM's. All I do is play around and write fanfics for you lovely readers. **_

_**Thank you for your comments, love you all.**_

_**Now I know this chapter took a few more days than promised, hehe.**_

_**Special thanks to this week's Beta's **_Lattecoug _**and**_ Love of Escapism. _**You both are amazing and thank you^^**_

_**Also a special shout to EBS Writing Boot Camp for helping me finish this chapter. Ubergeekness and PA91 were my assigned betas and I love you both so much. They are great fun to be with. **_

_**Time to start the real thing now, hope you enjoy it.**_

_**Sound track- My Wish by Rascal Flatts**_

**oO0Oo**

_**CHAPTER 3- My Wish**_

I couldn't believe how fast the previous week flew by; I mean, it felt like yesterday that I had agreed to move to Chicago with Esme and Carlisle. The main priority was the house that Dad had given to me in his will. I wanted to keep the house as there were many years' worth of lovely memories that lived there. My Uncle told me that it would require maintenance and all, so I would have been better off selling it. Billy agreed with Carlisle.

The next in the list was to be done was to transfer the money to my account. I wanted to pay for my expenses, but Esme being, well, Esme, wanted nothing. She was the only relative I knew and I understood her. They did, however, agree to keep it as my college fund, including the money that came from the house. That way, I could at least pay my own college tuition.

Throughout the week, Esme helped me pack my things. She suggested I make separate boxes for different types of items. I had no idea what to do with my parent's belongings, so Esme suggested we ship their clothes over to Chicago in advance and she could donate them to her organization. This seemed like a solid plan, so I packed their clothes and sealed the box.

The other things in the house we gave to second-hand stores in Forks and Port Angeles. I would miss a few things, but I knew I didn't need them, so why bother taking them?

By the end of the week, my house was practically empty, and it felt weird. I didn't realize how big the house truly was and how small it looked when it was loaded with things. My seventeen years of memories were either packed or given away. I did feel a tear run down my cheek, but I didn't want anyone to see it, so I wiped it away. I knew Esme would feel sad all over again.

We had to wait until Monday for school to reopen. Uncle Carlisle went with me to school to get my leave from there. It wasn't a hard process, but to think I was actually leaving it behind saddened me. The toughest part was to say goodbye to my friends. I mean, I knew they understood the situation, but in reality, it was a lot harder than expected.

The last thing to be taken care off was my truck. I loved that piece of junk and asked Esme if we could take it with us. After a lot of discussion, I had to say goodbye to it, too. It would have cost them a lot to transfer my old truck, anyway. Esme told me she would buy me a car when we reached Chicago, but I really didn't want them doing such things either. So after dropping my truck off at the same junkyard I got it from, we were set to go.

I had never flown before in my life. I hadn't even seen an airport properly either, so I was awestruck when I entered the huge building. I couldn't imagine such a huge space anywhere. We could have fit half of Forks in there!

Uncle and Aunty were obviously used to traveling a lot, so they instructed me on how to check in the baggage. Mom wasn't joking back then when she told me how finicky they can get about weight limit, but thankfully with ours together it was okay. We had to wait for almost two hours before boarding.

If I thought the entrance was huge, then the waiting area was gigantic! I hadn't seen so many shops in a single place, apart from malls, ever before. Esme guided me towards a sitting area, whereas Carlisle went about checking a few things.

"How are you doing?" Esme asks me for the millionth time.

"How many times will you ask me that? I'm fine. You don't have to worry so much."

"Sweetie, I'm just concerned. I know things are tough for you right now."

Something told me she wasn't waiting for an answer, so I just shifted towards her and she draped her arm around my shoulder. It felt comforting. 

Carlisle brought us back coffee, which was exactly what I needed. I hadn't told anyone I wasn't sleeping well, especially Esme. Since my parents death I practically survived on coffee, scared of what the night would bring. Even when Esme asked about my sleep, I'm guessing she noticed the large bags under my eyes, I had to lie. I didn't want my nightmares becoming hers too. My parent's accident was something I didn't like to think about, but when I was asleep, I was forced to face what had happened. I had no control over my thoughts then. 

Soon the speakers announced that our flight was ready to board. I was confused; they announced boarding for the first class passengers first, so why had Carlisle motioned for us to get up? I got my answer as soon as I entered. I wasn't only flying for the first time in a plane, but my first time was actually in first class. I had heard the seats were usually all crammed up, and people hardly get enough leg space, but the seating arrangement in front of me was much better than I imagined. One could actually sleep pretty well. After taking our seats, I realized they were so comfortable that I could feel my eyes drooping. To be honest, I didn't want to sleep, especially not in the plane with so many people around, but my eyes betrayed me, and before the plane could even start, I was fast asleep.

The nightmare that I anticipated was the same one as before. I was standing right outside my parent's car and there was blood everywhere. Nearby, there were a bunch of guys with beer bottles in their hands and they were laughing away as if they couldn't see what was in front of them. Then, suddenly, I felt a hand shake my shoulder and I was pulled out of my sleep. Esme had a concerned look in her eyes.

"Bella, why didn't you tell me that you were have nightmares? You were shivering, honey," she spoke .

I didn't know how to cover that up so I just went along and told her everything; how my nightmare starts and that it was the same every time. The look on her face became grave. She informed me that we were to land in about fifteen minutes, so if I wanted, I should use the restroom. I went quickly and washed my face. I was actually shocked to look in the mirror; my face looked horrible, my eyes were red and the bags were beginning to highlight the awfulness of them.

When I reached back to my seat, the buckle light was on, indicating that I was supposed to be strapped up in my seat. The landing wasn't so bad, and I could see the runway was pretty huge. I had missed the Seattle runway, but then again, it would have been the same.

While coming out, Esme informed me the airport was called O'Hare, and to be honest, it was far more beautiful than the one I saw in Seattle. I didn't know how, but it was definitely bigger, and I was surprised to see the size of the previous airport. This one had even more stores, but we didn't have much time to see it. Apparently, we didn't have to wait on anything in order to leave. Carlisle did the major work, then we collected our bags from the conveyor belt and we were off.

Carlisle had his car in the long-term parking lot, and their house wasn't too far from the airport. I saw him turning towards the outskirts and more towards a little forested area. Soon a huge palace was standing right in front of us, and if Esme hadn't said "Home Sweet Home", I wouldn't have guessed it was actually a house. It looked like a Victorian palace, but it had a modern touch. They had huge gardens, which got me thinking; Esme never mentioned whether they had any pets. Guess not. I couldn't ponder more on my surroundings, as Esme pushed me forward to finally enter their home. Their home, that would now be mine, too.

I followed Esme inside the house, and what I saw was beautiful. If I thought the outside was wonderful, this was a completely different world. We entered into a huge living area and one side of the wall had glass, just glass. I remembered Renee always liked such houses; she always told Dad that the house lacked enough sunlight. I even saw a grand piano settled in the corner.

"Esme, do you play?" I said looking at the piano.

She smiled and replied, "I used to, then Edward played for a couple of years. Now it's just sitting there gathering dust."

I heard the door open and shut again, and saw Carlisle had entered with my carry bag. From the stairs in front of me, I saw a girl come down. It had to be Alice. The description that Esme had given me suited her perfectly. She was short in height, probably a few inches shorter than me. She had dark spikey hair. As soon as she came down the stairs, she literally sprinted towards me and hugged me so tightly that my breath left my lungs in a rush. If I hadn't known Alice was adopted, I would have thought it was genetic.

"Oh Bella! You're finally here. I know we are going to be great friends," she said when we parted finally.

I just smiled at her friendliness.

I saw Esme and Alice communicate with only their eyes, and then Alice looked at me again and slowly said, "You're perfect."

I didn't know what she meant by that, but before i could even think of asking, she picked up my hand and pulled me towards a different room.

"When are the boys returning?" Esme shouted to Alice.

"Max five minutes, I'm showing Bella around," Alice replied and then we entered the kitchen. Everything about their house, even their kitchen was amazing. It was huge, unlike the one we had back home. This one was fully equipped with all the modern settings, I could see everything well in place, separated according to their uses. Mom never cared about what thing went where, she would just stuff everything wherever she could find a place.

"This is the kitchen, as you can obviously see. It's like Mom's sacred place," Alice told me with a hint of humor in her voice. I could imagine this being her sacred place; I would love to cook in here if she allowed.

Alice went towards the refrigerator, removed a bottle of water, and then picked up a glass and placed both items on the table in front of me. I looked at her puzzled. Had she forgotten that it was winter time?

"Alice! Cold water? I'll prefer regular if you don't mind."

"Oh, sorry, my bad. I'm used to drinking cold water no matter what the season."

So she simply picked up the bottle and returned it to the fridge, before handing me a glass of regular water. I thanked her, and before we could think of going back into the living room, I heard the door open and slam shut. I was worried that the door became unhinged.

"That would be Emmett. Come on, time to meet the rest."

We entered the room and I saw Emmett and Edward standing there looking in my direction. It was the first time I had seen any of them in person. Alice was still fine, but I never expected Emmett to be like this. The photographs didn't show his real personality.

He gave me a huge smile that stretched from ear to ear and then approached me. I smiled back and said, "Hello." The next thing he did was completely unexpected. He gave me a literal bear hug and I didn't know whether I was imagining it or not, but I couldn't feel the ground under my legs for a second. Alice and Emmett both were friendly people.

Wish I could say the same about Edward. He seemed...pissed? For some reason, he was just staring at me and when Esme told him to greet me, he simply said a, "Hello," and then asked if he could be excused. Esme looked at him worriedly, but then gave him permission. He quickly headed upstairs to god knows where. _What was his problem?_.

"Never mind Eddie," Emmett said. "He's been like that the whole week. Who knows what pissed off insect bit him. He'll be fine in a few days." Even though Emmett had a smile on his face, I could easily see the concern in his eyes, too.

In order to thin some of the tension in the atmosphere, Esme suggested Alice to show me the rest of the house while Carlisle and Emmett took out the suitcases from the car.

Alice led me towards the staircase, which Edward had gone up. When we had reached the first floor, she said, "Bedroom to the left is Esme and Carlisle's and to the right is mine and Emmett's room. You'll be on the second floor. The design is similar, and the room above Mom and Dad's belongs to Edward. Come, I'll show you yours."

I followed her to the second floor and then she turned right. There were two rooms facing each other, and she opened one of them.

"This one's yours. Hope you like purple. I asked Rosalie if she could help decorate it, and she picked purple."

"Yeah, purple is my favorite color, thanks."

I stepped inside the room and it was huge. By now I should have been used to the fact that everything in the house was huge, but I just wasn't. It was almost twice the size of the room I had back in Forks. Cherry on the cake, I had an attached bathroom. Alice opened the cupboard, oh no that wasn't a cupboard, it was a walk in closet! She had a mischievous smile on her face.

"I can't wait to fill this up for you," she said pointing towards it. She was not the kind of sister I wanted.

After the tour, we went back downstairs and I saw Esme was in the kitchen, cooking dinner. I asked Alice if she would need help and Alice replied by saying that she loved cooking on her own.

I didn't really have anything to do at that time; to be honest, back home I never thought I'd get free time like this, so I simply entered the kitchen and asked Esme if she needed any help anyway.

"Oh dear, I'm good here. Why don't you go sit with Alice and watch some T.V."

I gave her a serious look and she just chuckled. She got what I wanted to say; I hardly watch television.

"So, how did you find the house?"

"It's beautiful! I love it."

"How's your room?"

"Big. Yeah, definitely big," I said chuckling.

And after that we fell silent. Esme continued cooking and I just sat there on a stool.

"You know, Mom always wanted windows that stretched from the floor to the ceiling in her house," I said in barely a whisper.

Esme's hand stopped as she said, "I know." Then, resuming whatever she was doing, she spoke, "Our mother was fascinated with that actually. She loved the outside world and thought with windows, she could always be close to nature. Renee couldn't get her dream house, but she learnt a lot more from mother than I could. When Carlisle wanted me to design the house, all I thought was windows. Of course he thinks I overdid it, but I like our living area. Doesn't it feel like you are sitting outside in the open?"

I could see Esme was deep in thought, so I didn't really bother disturbing her memories. When she looked at me, I just nodded.

"How are you feeling Bella? I know you aren't sleeping well these days."

"I'm fine Esme, you don't need to worry so much about me. I'll be fine; just need a little more time."

"No one is pressuring you, sweetie. Take as much time as you want. Just take care of yourself."

"I will. I think I'll go sit with Alice and let you continue."

And with that I left the kitchen. I couldn't handle such a serious and intense atmosphere. Looking at Esme's sad face, I knew if I had stayed in there for even five minutes more, I couldn't have contained my tears from bursting out.

I joined Alice in the living room and sat beside her. She was randomly clicking channels, trying to find something worth watching.

"How are you, Bella?" Alice asked. There was a hint of sadness in her voice. She definitely knew what was going on and to be honest, I didn't like it. I thought I'd start new, but obviously the past would always be there with me. I don't want to forget the past actually, just a small incident in it, that's all.

"Average," I replied, looking directly at the television.

**oO0Oo**

Dinner at the Cullens' was, for lack of word, different. There was not a dull moment. Everyone was talking about their day; there was a big soccer game for Emmett and Edward coming up and they were practicing for it. Throughout dinner, the only thing that bothered me was that Edward hardly said anything. From Esme's descriptions and all, he seemed like a chatty person, but there he sat, with the same pissed off expression he had before and only spoke whenever there was a direct question asked to him. They never brought up any personal questions about me either. I was glad for that.

After dinner, Esme and Alice came up to my room and helped me unpack. I still had a weekend before school started here, but I just wanted to get it over with. I wanted to settle in as soon as possible.

In between my unpacking, Alice's phone rang and she went of the room to receive it. I didn't really mind her talking in here, but then again, she would have wanted her privacy too.

Alice then entered my room with a huge smile on her face. Her expression told me it was bad news for me.

"Now Bella, I know you just arrived, but it'll be good for you," she said.

"What are you talking about?"

"There is this back to school winter party at Jasper's place. He's my boyfriend, and we all were going, so I wanted to know if you want to come with us?"

"Umm…I'm not the party kind Alice. I'll be fine staying here, you all should go."

"Oh no, you should come. Our whole class will be there and you can get to know them. C'mon, it's this Saturday." Before this, I had no idea how persistent Alice could be, but when she put on her puppy face and begged me, I just had to give in. Even Esme said it would be a good idea to go.

"Perfect! Now let's see what you can wear." Alice went into the closet and came out within two minutes shaking her head.

"I'm so taking you shopping soon. You have nothing to wear!"

"Excuse me," I said gaping at her, "My cupboard is full, and I'll say I have way too many clothes."

"According to you, but for this party…Oh wait," she said and ran out of the room. I gave a puzzled look to Esme, but she probably knew, so just smiled back. Oh boy, I'm in so much trouble now.

Alice reentered my room after fifteen minutes and dumped a beige overcoat and matching boot on my bed. "This will so go with your skinny jeans. I'm allowing you to wear your clothes just this time, that's where the overcoat will come." I couldn't believe she was implying my clothes weren't worth showing off, excuse me for having a bad taste in fashion. But obviously I didn't say anything and let her way. I knew I wouldn't have won anyway.

After placing the coat and boots in my closet, she and Esme said good night and finally left the room. Suddenly everything went silent and it felt kind of weird. The silence just bubbled up the emotions again, and I missed the company.

Officially, my first day in Chicago hadn't even ended and I could feel my life would be very different here. In such times, I hoped my routine had stayed intact.

**oO0Oo**

_**That's all folks! **_

_**How was it? *nervous* Good, bad, pathetic? I wanna know!**_

_**Please do drop in some lovely comments for me. **_

_**I'll be honest and say next chapter will take some time, I'm still in the middle of completing it. I'm working on my contest entry and other fic too. I'm completely neglecting my photoshop too. Bad me!**_

_**That's all. Good Day everyone. Just a reminder, I'm available on Twitter under the name "Trilby97". You can contact me with anything^^**_

_**Thank you:)**_


	5. Chapter 5 I'm going my way

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing, it's all Stephenie Meyers. I just know how to play around with them.**_

_**Chapter has come after a long wait, I know. Unfortunately it's unbeta'd. Why? Coz i'm a lazy bum! For a while now actually. In between I have written for two contests also, so give me SOME credit here!**_

_**Anyway, i'll replace the chapter to a better one soon. And soon means ASAP not a month long soon. Hopefully. :P**_

_**Soundtrack- Zero by Anna Tsuchiya. She's one of my favorite Japanese singers. This song is in English, but others are awesome too. **_

_**Enjoy^^**_

* * *

><p>CHAPTER 4- I'm going my way<p>

I couldn't sleep that first night. Something about a foreign place always bothered me: different bed, different smell. The most difficult area to get adjusted to for me was the bathroom, even when we went out for trips. For some weird reason, I always felt odd in a new bathroom. Well in this case, everything around me was odd. The other reason I couldn't sleep was the constant nightmares. I just didn't feel comfortable staying in bed, so I planned on going outside my room to the corridor.

The corridor had more light than I had anticipated, probably because of the windows. The moonlight illuminating the house seemed beautiful. With one peek- obviously no one would be here at such a time- I stepped out. I had forgone my slippers, and the carpet felt good under my bare feet.

I had almost reached the staircase when I saw a figure come close to me. My first reaction was to scream, but then I noticed this wasn't my home in Forks. To my relief I recognized the face. It was Edward, and he looked kind of beautiful with the dim light falling on his face. _Ohmygosh! I shouldn't be thinking like this._

He had a surprised look on his face, probably not expecting me here like I wasn't expecting him.

"What are you doing up in the middle of the night?" I heard him speak in an irritated voice. _Seriously, what _is_ his problem?_

"I can ask the same to you," I retaliated.

"This is _my_ house."

"Oh! True, sorry about that." Why was I being sorry? This is my house too _now_. Guess my brain wasn't working without any sleep.

"I couldn't sleep. I was just going to get some water. You want?" He was trying to redirect the conversation.

I realized my mouth was dry; back home I used to keep a bottle of water on my bedside table. I simply nodded, not bothering with what he was expecting. He gestured for me to lead, and he followed me down the stairs. None of us spoke a word till we reached the kitchen. I remembered how Alice had given me cold water, seriously that girl was something.

Edward pulled out 2 bottles from beside the fridge and hands me one.

"Thank you. Normal water," I said waving the bottle.

For a minute, he gave me a confused look, but later he got what I meant. "Alice." That's all he said added with a chuckle. It was the first time I saw Edward smile since I came here.

He again gestured me to move first, breaking the awkward silence between us. After saying "Good Night" we head back to our own rooms. This little encounter wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. I wondered what was wrong with him in the morning, he barely spoke and had a frown constantly fainted on his forehead. My mind was going crazy all these twists and turns. Life back home felt so much simpler.

**oO0Oo**

The following days were pretty uneventful. After meeting Edward that first night, when I went back to my room, surprisingly that was the first time I slept properly after my parent's death. Alice and Esme never asked about my sleep, probably still giving me time adjust. Carlisle was mostly in the hospital. I felt bad, as it was because of me he had to take a few days off and now he had to complete his pending work. Emmett and Edward were mostly in school for their soccer practice, and they however did come home for lunch and then late evening. One day Esme had to go and meet someone for her some contract she mentioned she was working on. Alice was pestering me about going for shopping, so I couldn't really make out what Esme was telling us. I did somehow win against Alice, but she gave me a sly smile and I felt like I was in deep trouble. What I didn't know was that deep trouble would come the next day in form of Rosalie Hale.

I remembered Rosalie through the pictures Esme showed me and all the talks about her from Alice. She was Emmett's girlfriend and was beautiful. She was nice. When I saw her enter the house, I felt she had an air of arrogance and thought she would be ego-centric. But I guess you just need to know her to love her. She gave me a hug, which was unexpected. It was Saturday; the day of the party and to be honest, I didn't like it. The boys were back from their practice early and weren't too behind Rosalie.

"Hi baby, wasn't expecting you here today," Emmett greeted Rosalie as soon as he came in and saw her.

"I'm not here for you, Alice called me."

Emmett looked like a child with pouted lips, but it was just a show, as he walked past her and sat on the sofa. Edward wasn't far behind. For the past couple of days, it was evident that Edward was trying to hide his irritation, probably because he knew his family members were concerned, but today, hat irritation was back and that permanent frown was pasted back.

"Hey Edward. How's the practice going guys?" Rosalie spoke.

Edward simply avoids her and goes to sit beside Emmett. _And pissed Edward is back!_

"What is up with you Edward? Someone shoved a stick up your ass?" Rosalie snorts at him.

"Don't rack your brain dear, you might lose whatever's left of it," Edward spoke putting on a sweet voice, yet he didn't hide his irritation.

"Have it your way, I'm here for Bella anyway," she finishes her sentence while looking at me. I gulp involuntarily, and I somehow knew what was about to happen.

"Alice," I began. "I can't believe this!"

"Oh Bella, you just weren't giving in, so now Rose and I, both will take you out. Then we'll get ready and head off to Jasper's place." She sounded so excited, and with Rosalie pestering me too, I just had to give in. Within the next hour, I had taken a bath, changed my clothes and was unwillingly being dragged out of the house. The last thing that I saw before the door shut kind of surprised me. Edward had given me a sympathetic smile, as if he knew what torture I was going through. That was definitely odd, but I didn't get much time to ponder on it.

**oO0Oo**

Shopping with Alice and Rosalie was interesting! I guessed after exiting five shops empty handed, they realized I wasn't the shopping kind. Well, it never was my cup of tea. It was kind of embarrassing having so much attention to me, and all I did was shake my head. Honestly, nothing really called out to me, plus I already had whatever I needed. How many jeans would a girl like to own? I already know Alice has jeans and pants in almost all shades, which is weird and crazy. But then again it was Alice.

Rosalie suggested we have Italian, and recently only a new restaurant had opened. I was surprised to see it was La Bella Italia. I couldn't believe Alice actually asked whether it was a branch, and much to our surprise it was. They were expanding.

Alice and Rosalie looked at me when d waiter came to give us the menu.

"Don't look at me like that, everything is good here," I speak up knowing they wanted suggestions.

Finally we gave our orders and I ordered my usual mushroom ravioli. I was happy to find something familiar.

"So Bella, how was forks," Rosalie asked me.

"It's more or less same, just smaller. The biggest town near ours was Port Angeles. Nothing special."

"Tell me about the guys, you must have had a boyfriend there."

"Uh...I don't have a boyfriend. Never dated anyone."

"Why is that hard to believe? C'mon, you are beautiful, guys should be falling on your feet"

I snorted at her comment and she raised her eyebrow like I-mean-it kind of way.

"I guess I never paid much attention, plus, no one really caught my eye. I was the more of a sufferer in silence kind of person."

With that said, neither of them pestered me with further questions on my relationship history. They asked how my friends were and what we did to have fun. I knew they meant to ask if we partied and where. Alice and Rosalie were disappointed with that reply too. I wondered what was so wrong about my old life that they didn't approve off. School life should be simple, but the way those two described their days, it was nowhere near simple!

It was past four when we finally headed back home. Rosalie was coming home with us to get ready and then we would go to jaspers house. I still hadn't seen him in person, but with the pictures and the way everyone talks about him, he seemed like a nice guy.

The way back was mostly silent. Alice had put some music on and surprisingly I knew almost all the songs. Getting in the mood all three of us started singing along.

I couldn't recognize one of the songs that came on. Somehow, it didn't sound like an English singer, so out of curiosity I asked who the singer was.

"She's Anna Tsuchiya. And you're right, she's not English; she's a Japanese singer. Oh I love her songs!" Alice replies with enthusiasm.

"Oh boy, she's gonna start again!' Rosalie comments with a hint of laughter as if remembering some old incident.

"Alice, why would you listen to a Japanese singer?" I could help keeping the amusement at bay.

"Because I like it. It's not only Japanese, I like Korean pop too," she announces with pride.

"Okay! So what song is this?" I realized the song wasn't so bad; I could give this singer a try.

"It's called 'Zero'. Don't know why though, but I like to call it 'I Want It My Way','' and with that she started singing along the lyrics.

By the time we reached home, it was almost four thirty. Emmett was sitting in the drawing room watching TV and Edward was nowhere around.

"Catch!" I heard a familiar voice from the kitchen, and when I turned, I saw a something fly by me. Whoa!

"Bella," he spoke again and then I saw him wave a bottle in my direction before throwing it my way. Thankfully I caught it, which surprised me!

"Good catch," Emmett spoke from behind me. "So how was your day? I can't see any bags with you girls."

"Because we didn't shop anyway, but surprisingly I had a great day." Rosalie spoke while sitting beside him.

"How the hell did that happen?" This time it was Edward who spoke with shock in his voice, obviously it was just to tease her.

"I know right? I was heartbroken Eddie." Rosalie spoke in a sad voice.

"Edward!" Edward almost growled at her, but she was unaffected by it.

Something told me Edward and Rosalie had a pretty playful relationship. It felt good laughing among friends again. I don't even remember the last time I left so much at ease.

Alice pulled Rosalie and me upstairs to get ready. Why would someone start getting ready so early? We had plenty of time.

I quickly went for my bath and I was to meet up with the girls in Alice's room. Knowing I had plenty of time, I relaxed in the shower. The warm water felt amazing on my body. It was really chilly outside in the morning and I just hoped Jaspers place would have heating; otherwise I would have looked like Santa. I didn't like the winters; there something really gloomy about that season. I preferred spring; not too cold nor too hot. I didn't like forks weather either. It was too cold and wet for my liking.

I even took the time to shave my arms and legs, not that anyone would see them. I just felt cleaner. I washed my hair and after almost 45 minutes I was out of the bathroom with a large towel around my body and another towel wrapped around my hair. Alice had told me to only towel dry them. I quickly put on my dark blue skinny jeans and it felt like another layer of skin. Previous night she had taken out a black full sleeve t-shirt for me, and putting it on, too, I went to Alice's room.

As I entered, I noticed both of them were ready and Alice's dressing table was full of make-up and rollers and even a straightening rod. I rarely ever put make-up on and there I saw all the possible things one could order from a brochure.

"Bella, you're looking really good in those. Come sit here, I'll do your hair and Alice can do your make-up." Rosalie spoke pointing towards the stool in front of the huge mirror.

"Rose, she has amazing natural curls." Alice spoke up and I saw her in disbelief. No one really commented on my hair like this. Well apart from mom, but I always thought she would say such things to encourage some self esteem in me.

Rosalie didn't do much with my hair; she just curled them to give them more bounce. Next was make-up and I was glad Alice didn't apply much. She did however tell me that I didn't need much; my skin was good just as it was. I blushed on that comment and she glared at me as if I would ruin all her efforts. Crazy girl!

I couldn't believe it was already seven by the time I slipped into Alice's boots and coat. I looked taller somehow. I could see only beige over me with a stripe of blue and a hint of black.

We were down in the next five minutes, and the guys were waiting in the living room. They were both in casual jeans, t-shirt and shoes.

Esme had returned an hour back. She was tired and had gone to bed early. Unfortunately Carlisle had a night shift at the hospital, so he was away, too. That left Esme alone in the house. I kind of felt guilty, but then again, she would like to just sleep and not entertain anyone.

"Mom has gone to bed. Anyways, we told her we'll lock the house. So now, how are we going? It'll be a little uncomfortable to fit everyone. So?" Emmett had a valid point there, we were five of us.

"Okay," Alice began. "Edward can take Bella in the Volvo, no arguments. I know you both aren't really into the party mood tonight, so if you guys want, you can leave early. It won't be a problem then. What say?'

"Good point pixie, and thank you for cooperating, I don't mind. Bella?"

Wow! All this happened pretty fast I couldn't register much, but if I could escape early, I really didn't mind.

"Okay, I'm cool with it." And with that we were out.

It was so damn chilly outside, but it looked kind of beautiful. The house and the front lawn were covered in fresh snow. The driveway was clean and there stood Emmet's jeep and Edward's Volvo.

The drive to Jasper's place was pretty silent. Thankfully the drive ended fast because I could feel the air around Edward change every minute we came closer. I could make out he wasn't very comfortable with the situation. Then Alice's words struck me, Edward didn't really wanted to come, but why?

I couldn't ponder much because as soon as the car stopped I was pulled out of it by the evil pixie.

In a flash I was inside the house. It seemed big, but I couldn't really make out how it was. I was introduced to tons of people. I didn't even remember half the people I met there. My mind was pre occupied. I could smell alcohol everywhere and it tensed me. The smell repulsed me.

Alice dragged me to the kitchen, unaware of my restlessness. She introduced me to Jasper there, but again the smell invaded my senses. It was stronger there.

Jasper seemed like a nice guy. He asked what I would like to have, but I just asked for water. Honestly, I couldn't trust such a party; back home, in one of Jessica's party, someone mixed alcohol in the fruit punch. All this was almost new for me; unknown faces everywhere, such loud music that I feared I might get deaf, this really wasn't me!

Alice told me to enjoy and feel like home, and she vanished. What was with those people, I couldn't find a single known soul.

Feeling lost, I walked up to a corner where there was no one. While scanning the crowd, I saw a creepy looking guy watching me. A shiver ran down my spine as I saw him making his way towards me. I was sure he was coming towards me; I could feel it in my bones. I desperately looked around where I could escape to. There was none, and now the guy was right in front of me.

"Hello. I haven't seen you around here before. The names James," he introduced himself with a smirk on his face and an air of arrogance. Those things hit me later. His breath smelled of alcohol, and I tensed up. He tried to calm me by placing a hand on my shoulder and I automatically flinched.

"Easy there, I won't bite. Its rude that you haven't introduced yourself," he spoke again.

I felt his hand move over my shoulder slowly, but I couldn't do anything. I was comatose in my spot. All my nightmares flashed in front of me, and I knew he was going to hurt me.

In my last attempt I saw Edward a little far away, talking to some guy and I was praying for him to look in my direction. As if god had heard my plea, Edward made eye contact with me and I begged him to save me. I saw his jaw tense up, and I started doubting what I had done. Was James his friend and me acting like this angered him? Thankfully he started walking towards me.

James must have felt irritated with my lack of attention, because he held my chin between his thumb and fingers and pulled it in his direction. I couldn't see whether Edward was really coming my way or not. I just prayed he was.

At that moment three things happened so fast. James lightly dragged his thumb above my lower lip. He even released a breath right on my face, and the scent hit me as if someone had punched my stomach. And lastly, Edward gently pulled James away from me, literally glaring at him. He was angry; his jaw had tensed, lips in a strained line, nostrils flared and eyes on fire. What had I done?

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><p><em><strong>Thank you^^<strong>_

_**How was it? I wanna know. Reviews please! And I'll send Edward to save you, or would Edward need saving? ;)**_

_**If you're following my ffnet page, then two one-shots are coming up! One is wolf and other Vampire. What a contrast!**_

_**Trilby:)**_


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